23 June 2016
Ecumenical Patriarchate Press Release
On the fourth day of the Holy and
Great Council of the Orthodox Church, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated
by the delegation of the Patriarchate of Romania at the Sacred
Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Gonia. Afterward, the
hierarchs continued their work in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh
sessions of the Council.
The ninth session of the Council continued the discussion on The
Importance of Fasting and its Observance Today, while the tenth and
eleventh sessions focuses on The Sacrament of Marriage and its
Impediments. Following extensive and honest discussion about various
canonical and pastoral perspectives of the two agenda topics, the
primates and individual hierarchs of the local Orthodox autocephalous
Churches proposed a number of suggestions and clarifications.
The hierarchs of the Council voted and received the final texts on
Autonomy and the Means by which it is Proclaimed and The Orthodox
Diaspora. The primates and other hierarchs of the Council have begun
signing these two documents, and will complete the signing process in
the morning. In the coming days, they are also expected to sign the
revised decisions on The Importance of Fasting and its Observance Today
as well as The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today’s World. During
the final session of the day, the item about relations with other
churches was read in plenary and an open discussion ensued.
During the Council’s proceedings today, His All-Holiness Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew informed the hierarchs of the tragic accident at a
Russian summer camp that led to the death of fifteen children. The
patriarch and the other hierarchs agreed to send a letter of sympathy to
His Beatitude Patriarch Kyrill of Russia. Moreover, His All-Holiness
read a letter of greeting sent by His Excellency Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz,
president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in which he
expressed the fraternal greetings and prayers of the US Catholic bishops
to the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church.
In the afternoon, His Eminence Archbishop Job of Telmessos delivered
an official news update on behalf of the Holy and Great Council. After
the comments made by Archbishop Job, official spokespersons of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of
Serbia, the Church of Romania, the Church of Cyprus, and the Church of
Greece gave a common press briefing.
To view recordings of the press briefings, visit https://www.holycouncil.org/video. Visit https://www.holycouncil.org/live each day at 3:30 pm local Crete (UTC +3) to view a live news briefing.
The Council continues meeting through June 25, concluding with the Divine Liturgy on June 26.
As they become available, photos for use without modification or alteration are available at https://www.orthodoxcouncil.org/photos. All texts and homilies related to the Holy and Great Council are available at https://media.holycouncil.org/texts.